Projects

Stupa and prayer flags bless the animals at the Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal.

Every day around the world millions of animals are killed and mistreated needlessly. In countries like Nepal, the care and management of animals is very poor and animal sacrifices are common creating tremendous suffering for the animals and those involved. 

Animal Liberation Sanctuary, near Kopan Monastery, was established to provide shelter and care for animals who have been rescued from being killed, so that they may live out their natural lives in peace and attain a higher rebirth through exposure to the Dharma. The animals regularly hear mantras and are led around holy objects. 

Cows, sheep, and goats enjoy their days at the Animal Liberation Sanctuary.

The sanctuary has a main animal shelter designed to provide a healthy environment throughout Nepal’s seasons, it has facilities to separate weaker animals from the main flock, and it is designed to reduce water use and waste. The sanctuary has a quarantine area, a treatment room, and the property also has a live-in caretaker. 

For the fifth year, a very kind benefactor has worked with the Social Services Fund to issue a substantial grant for the ongoing work and care of the sanctuary. We are delighted to report that a US$10,000 grant has recently been issued which will be used for ongoing food and care expenses, as well as for urgent repairs needed for the sanctuary’s goat shed. These are fenced pens which are used to separate and protect weaker goats from the the rest. 

Please rejoice in another year of support being offered to this wonderful project which benefits animals so in need of support, care, and kindness.

You can donate to the Animal Liberation Sanctuary or learn more about the work being done for animals in Nepal: http://kopanmonastery.com/charitable/animal-sanctuary-nepal

The Animal Liberation Fund supports weekly animal liberations and extensive dedications offered by Sangha at the residences of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. When funds allow, additional animal liberations conducted in Singapore and Hong Kong are supported, as well the Animal Liberation Sanctuary in Nepal, MAITRI Charitable Trust in India and elsewhere. You are welcome to offer any amount toward this ongoing work. 
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche enjoying reading about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund in the recent issue of Mandala magazine.

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was established to support monasteries, nunneries, and individual monks and nuns with food, accommodation, health care, education and Dharma practice. Supporting monks and nuns is one of the highest priorities for the FPMT organization, because the preservation of the Buddhadharma is dependent on the existence of Sangha.

We invite you keep up on all the beneficial projects that this fund supports. Recent grants have been released or are soon to be given toward the following initiatives: The rebuilding of Maratika Gompa in Nepal; the renovation and expansion of Iggda Chozing Monastery in Mongolia; food offered to monks in Mongolia and Thame, Nepal; support to nuns in Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery, Nepal; the health of various khangtsen in Sera Je Monastery, India. 

All are welcome to support these beneficial grants offered to Sangha. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries.

MAITRI Charitable Trust provides essential education, medical care, aid to mothers and children, animal care, and various forms of charitable service to the destitute in Bodhgaya, India. 

MAITRI began its work in 1989 when Adriana Ferranti put her leprosy training to good use by helping people those with the disease and working towards its eradication. Since then, the project has expanded greatly to meet the needs of the people in the Bodhgaya-area in Bihar, one of the poorest, most depressed and most populated states in India.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Adriana Ferranti at MAITRI Charitable Trust, blessing all the staff, children, patients and animals. January, 2017.

For the fifth year in a row, a very kind benefactor has offered a substantial grant to MAITRI via the FPMT Social Services Fund. Please rejoice that US$70,000 was recently issued toward another year of services for those in need in Bodhgaya. Here we invite you to rejoice in some of MAITRI’s many accomplishments from 2015-2016 which were made possible by last year’s grant:

Leprosy Program

The MAITRI information stall in (in front of the Chinese Temple) in Bodhgaya , Bihar, 2016.

• Detection, verification, and management of 516 new cases that were registered for treatment.
• Prevention of Deformities (POD) program was implemented by instructing 1,853 individuals on self-care of their needs, particularly ulcers.
• Assessing and instructing 625 high risk cases on prevention of deformities.
• Distributing 276 sandals and supplying 522 kits for ulcer dressing.
• Performing 3,240 dressings of ulcers.
• The implementation of the Information, Education, Communication (IEC) program to raise awareness on the identification and treatment of leprosy by covering a population of 1,223,550 people in 3,908 villages and by particularly contacting 6,354 community members to promote collaboration among villagers.
• Addressing 69,300 school students in routine visits to government and private schools.
• Celebrating World Leprosy Day on January 31 with a promotional drive in 221 villages populated by 295,890 individuals.
• The hospitalization of 61 leprosy-affected individuals.
• The distribution of blankets in the winter season to 385 leprosy-affected individuals.

Children are offered powdered milk and supplements by MAITRI Charitable Trust. This child’s mother passed away from tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis Program

Paramedical workers find another leprosy case in this young woman in Bodhgaya , Bihar. Photo courtesy of MAITRI Facebook page.

• Identification, promotion, and management of 209 new case.
• Implementation of the Information, Education, Communication (IEC) program to raise awareness on the identification and treatment of TB by covering a population of 578,958 in 864 villages.
• Hospitalization of fourteen under treatment patients in serious conditions, 10 of whom were successfully released from MAITRI’s hospital.
• The distribution of food items and supplements to 87 indigent patients under treatment.

Mother Care Program

• The identification, registration, and management of 227 new cases that were registered at MAITRI’s outpatient and mobile clinics. 
• The collection of 110 blood samples for blood tests for women with first time pregnancies. 
• The monthly medical check-ups of an average 161 patients under treatment.
• The field follow-up of 171 registered cases during treatment and after release. 
• Delivery of 180 healthy babies including 16 twins and 3 triplets.
• The post-natal field follow-up of women after third pregnancy to facilitate tubectomies. 127 tubectomies were completed.
• Distribution of 273 blankets during Winter. 

Aid, education and medical care from MAITRI is offered to India’s poorest and most densely populated area in Bodhgaya. Photo by Adriana Ferranti.

Child Care Program

• Identification, registration, and management of 44 new cases that were registered at MAITRI’s clinics.
• Monthly medical check-ups of an average 129 children in treatment.
• Distribution of fifty-five rations of milk powder and ten rations of cereal. 
• The identification, registration, and management of ten new cases of girls aged 5-14 that were registered at MAITRI’s clinics.
• Monthly medical check-ups of an average of sixty-six girls aged 5-14.

Maintenance of Campus

• Repair work was completed on the building. 

Adriana Ferranti expressed her gratitude for last year’s grant in the following way: 

The grant was very gratefully received and has enabled us to continue our support to some of Bihar’s poorest people. MAITRI always manages the funds it receives from generous donors around the world with the utmost care so that as many persons can be benefited as possible.  

Please rejoice in another year of essential charitable service offered through MAITRI and in director Adriana’s dedication to this work for nearly thirty years. 

If you would like to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure grants such as this can continue, you can read more about the charitable projects this fund supports or donate any amount to the fund itself. 

You can donate directly to MAITRI and learn more about the vast services to those in need. 

Some of the 15,650 Sangha who will be doing prayers on Chokhor Duchen.

Each year on Chokhor Duchen, one of the four great holy days of the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, The Puja Fund sponsors pujas and offerings all over the world dedicated to success of the entire FPMT organization. The practices are offered by up to 15,650 monks and nuns. This year Chokhor Duchen takes place on Thursday, July 27. 

Also known as the Festival of Turning the Wheel of Dharma, Chokhor Duchen commemorates the anniversary upon which Shakyamuni Buddha first began teaching the Dharma. For seven weeks after his enlightenment, the Buddha did not teach. After this period, Indra and Brahma offered a Dharmachakra and a conch shell and requested Shakyamuni to teach. Accepting, Buddha Shakyamuni turned the Wheel of Dharma for the first time at Sarnath by teaching on the four noble truths.

On Chokhor Duchen the Puja Fund will sponsor: Recitation of the Prajnaparamita (short, medium and long versions) by the monks of Gyurme Tantric College, recitation of the entire Kangyur by the nuns of Kopan Nunnery, extensive offerings for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and holy objects in India and Tibet, among many other virtuous activities, prayers and pujas which were advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

You are welcome to participate in these offerings which take place every holy Buddha day, and rejoice that 15,650 monks and nuns will be doing these prayers, remembering that they are all “pores of the guru” and thus extensions of our teachers.

Specific advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche for practices to do on Buddha Multiplying Days such as Chokhor Duchen can be found here, including advice to recite the Sutra for Remembering the Three Jewels. 

If you would like to make a donation toward the meritorious activities being sponsored by the Puja Fund on Chokor Duchen, you can do so by offering any amount you are able. 

The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for continuous pujas dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to the success of all the FPMT centers, projects, services, students, benefactors and those serving the organization in any way. You can learn more about the Puja Fund, or FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity. 

Monks of Sera Mey Monastery offering monthly Medicine Buddha Puja sponsored by the FPMT Puja Fund.

Every month on the Tibetan 8^th day The Puja Fund sponsors all the monks of Sera Mey Monastery to offer Medicine Buddha puja dedicated FPMT centers, projects, services; all students who are ill or having life obstacles; benefactors of The Puja Fund and to all beings.

The Puja Fund offers a small money offering, tea, and bread to each of the approximately 2,000 monks performing the puja as well as the cost of light offerings and torma offerings. The cost of this monthly offering is over US$14,000 per year. 

Monks of Sera Mey Monastery offering monthly Medicine Buddha Puja.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has taught extensively on the benefits of Medicine Buddha practice. “The Medicine Buddha encompasses all the buddhas,” Rinpoche has explained. “This means that when we practice the seven-limb prayer and make offerings with the seven limbs, we receive the same merit as we would if we had made offerings to all the buddhas. Similarly, when we recite the mantra of Medicine Buddha, we collect unbelievable merit just as when we offer the seven-limb practice to Medicine Buddha.” 

Please rejoice in this monthly offering that brings so much benefit to the entire FPMT organization and all of the monks of Sera Mey sponsored to participate in the puja. Every Tibetan 8^th day, please remember that this puja is happening and you can mentally join in. This is something amazing to rejoice in, to mentally offer and dedicate toward, and also something you can contribute to by donating any amount. 

The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for pujas and offerings dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to the success of all the FPMT centers, projects, services, students, benefactors, and those serving the organization in any way.

Learn more about the Puja Fund and FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity.

For the past six years, due to the kindness of one main benefactor, the FPMT Social Services project has been able to offer substantial grants toward the amazing projects of Root Institute, India, which directly benefit underprivileged individuals in the area. We are delighted to report that this support will continue in 2017 and a grant of US$62,500 was recently issued. Please rejoice in the below report outlining some of the many accomplishments of these three projects in 2016 which were made possible by these grant. 

Residents of Tara Children’s Home enjoying a performance.

Tara Children’s Project
Tara Children’s Project (TCP) is the only children’s home caring for HIV-affected orphaned children in the state of Bihar. In 2016, TCP focused on bringing in a full team to work toward the proper functioning of the home, which currently serves twenty-one children. New team members include a project manager, two house managers, one additional caregiver and a cleaner.

Community engagement features prominently in the regular activities for the children and staff of TCP.

In June, Shakyamuni Buddha Clinic (see more below) initiated a meeting with two other local NGOs assisting HIV-positive people. In the meeting, the clinic shared its experience working with children diagnosed with HIV at TCP as well as other HIV-positive patients. The main point of the discussion was to explore how to provide jobs to those infected with HIV and integrate them into the economic and social life of the community. As TCP’s population grows from children to adolescents to adults, this work will become extremely important.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving a Dharma talk to the Shakyamun Buddha Clinic, 2015.

Shakyamuni Buddha Community Health Care Center
Shakyamuni Buddha Clinic began in 1991 as a home for the destitute and has evolved into a diverse community health program encompassing a wide range of medical and rehabilitative services and health promotion activities. In 2016 50,422 people in need were served at the clinic. Services included allopathic medicine, homeopathic medicine, health promotion and education, and patient care. Highlights of the year include:

• Health education for adolescents is of particular importance as young people are coming of age. Groups of fifty girls and thirty boys were offered educational seminars pertaining to health. 
• Educational plays were offered in surrounding villages and at the clinic. These dramatic presentations were well attended and offered important information in a unique and engaging format. 
• Camps were offered in villages providing information on how to prevent and how to treat malaria. 279 patients were offered free homeopathic kits.
• Camps were offered in villages providing information about blood pressure including how to check one’s blood pressure and how to determine high risk.
• HIV/AIDS support programs were offered in villages where consultation, medicine delivery, healthy food distribution, and education were provided.
• 300 children in Marni School, Kolhoya, were offered health care. 
• Twenty-one HIV affected orphans from the Tara Children’s Project were offered regular  check ups and treatment. 
• A child clinic for very small children was offered every Wednesday.
• Physiotherapy was offered to children with cerebral palsy.
•  A dental clinic was offered one day per week offering free dental treatment for adults and children.
• Care was offered to high risk patients including: a high risk burn case, orthopedic rehabilitation and physiotherapy for one patient, infected wound treatment for a sixteen-year-old orphan who was at high risk for gangrene, and physiotherapy and proper nutrition was offered to a wheelchair-bound motor vehicle accident survivor.

Maitreya School children all smiles after a lesson about teeth cleaning.

Maitreya School
Maitreya School is a free school benefiting impoverished children from Bodhgaya and neighboring villages. The children not only have the chance to obtain a traditional education but, more importantly, they receive life skills in compassion, honesty, and loving-kindness presented through Buddhist study. This is the core of the training and vision of the school: making lives meaningful.

In 2016 the school set up a computer room which has enabled all students from grades 1-5 the opportunity to have regular computer sessions. A projector and screen were also obtained thanks to a kind donor. Two new teachers joined the school and facilities have been upgraded with two new classrooms and a toilet. The children participated in various competitions and activities which incorporate the 16 Guidelines. 

How to Support

• Support the Social Services Fund and help ensure grants such as this can continue
• Make a donation directly to one of Root Institute’s social service projects.

You can read more about the charitable projects supported by the Social Services Fund. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche prostrating to a precious Guru Rinpoche statue during visit to Chailsa. Rinpoche sponsors the butter in the butter lamp in front of this statue 365 days a year.

Chailsa is in Solu Khumbu, north-eastern Nepal, the district where Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born. Chailsa is in the southern part of the district.

In May, Lama Zopa Rinpoche stayed at Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery for a month and visited the Sagarmatha Secondary School which is located there. More than two years ago, the Social Service Fund took on the commitment of sponsoring this school which has about 120 students and is managed by Kopan Monastery.  

While in the area, Tsipri Lama approached Rinpoche about the need of these retreat houses in the area, specifically for geshes from the monasteries of Kopan, Sera, Drepung, and Ganden who have completed their studies and then wanted to engage in retreat. Rinpoche was very inspired by the project and immediately wanted to help actualize it and Rinpoche now has offered the full amount to complete this project: US$80,000. 

The sloping land below the buildings is where the new retreat area will be located. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Tsipri Lama was once a Kopan monk and is also the recognized reincarnation of a lama from the Tsipiri region of Tibet. Tsipri Lama fled Tibet and settled in the Solu Khumbu region in Nepal. The offering is to fund the building of retreat huts and a gompa for geshes who have finished their studies and want to meditate on the path in isolation. There are currently five geshes on the property who are engaged in retreat, occupying very temporary and inadequate housing. 

Providing the conditions needed for sincere practictioners to actualize the path to enlightenment is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization. 

Please rejoice in this offering which will enable many precious geshes to engage in retreat in a meaningful way in a blessed place. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries, nunneries, and individual ordained Sangha. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche works on writing out the Prajnaparamita Sutra with Ven. Tsering at his side. June 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

In March we reported that Ven. Tsering has entered his fifteenth year of writing out the Prajnaparamita Sutra in gold ink on archival quality rainbow paper as a means to create the karma needed to build the large Maitreya Buddha statue in India. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently commented about Ven. Tsering’s work: “His life is completely taken care of, up to enlightenment. He has created so much merit, even just writing one syllable of the Prajnaparamita. And he has been writing so long…. So much merit.” Rinpoche regularly reviews Ven. Tsering’s work to make sure it is the highest quality. 

In April, Ven. Katy Cole, on behalf of FPMT Charitable Projects, spoke to Ven. Tsering about his work. Ven. Tsering  provided us with some insight into what this project has meant to him and how it has impacted his mind. 

What would you like to say about this project?

Ven. Tsering: It is definitely beneficial for me but the whole project is not for me. It is for FPMT and the Maitreya Project. The whole project is for Rinpoche’s wishes to come true which depends on how much the students are able to achieve fulfilling the wishes of the guru. 

How has this work affected you? Have you seen a difference in your mind since doing this?

Ven. Tsering: I don’t know if has affected me but it definitely has created the conditions for me to listen to teachings and from there for me to do more positive things and cultivate positive thoughts actions. This is mainly from listening to teachings. It has definitely created the condition for me to listen to the teachings. Maybe because of this Prajnaparamita writing I am still a monk. Also by doing this I can fulfill my gurus wish which is also a great practice and as a monk what more could I ask to do than fulfill the wishes of the guru. 

Dagri Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Ven. Tsering look at the progress of writing out the Prajnaparamita Sutra, June 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab

You can learn more about the Prajnaparamita Project as well as the other Charitable Projects of FPMT.

A puja was offered on the site of the new large stupa in Thame, Solo Khumbu.

A large stupa is being built in Thame in the Solo Khumbu district of Nepal to replace one that was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. The new stupa, which will stand nearly 44 feet tall with a base measuring 56 feet across, will be larger than the one which previously stood on the site.

The site of the destroyed stupa in Thame, Solo Khumbu.

About the benefits of building stupas, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said:

“By building a stupa, without words we are continually liberating so many sentient beings. Every day, the stupa plants the seed of enlightenment and purifies anybody who sees, touches, remembers, talks or dreams about the stupa. This includes insects that touch the stupa. The stupa is meaningful to behold, and it liberates many sentient beings, insects and humans, every day.

“When the wind touches a stupa—especially if it has the four dharmakaya relics inside—the wind becomes blessed. Then, wherever the wind goes and whoever it touches, it liberates them from the lower realms, by purifying their negative karma. When rain falls on the stupa, that water liberates any being it touches—all the worms in the ground etc, are liberated from the lower realms. It is similar with dust.”

This stupa will be filled and consecrated according to instruction with holy objects and precious materials such as Dharma texts.

The stupa will be filled with holy images and objects, mantras and the relics of holy beings.

This new stupa project is being managed by Tenpa Choden from Kopan Monastery. The Holy Objects Fund was very pleased to offer US$100,000 toward this stupa which will have a final cost of approximately $US400,000. This very large and impressive stupa will bring ongoing benefit to all sentient beings who make contact with it. 

We look forward to providing more updates and details on this project as it progresses. 

You can watch a short video of a puja being offered on the site of this new stupa:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mts44pLHVc8&feature=youtu.be

If you would like to contribute to the building of holy objects around the world, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Holy Objects Fund which contributes to the creation of stupas, prayer wheels and statues.  

The extensive offerings at Rinpoche’s residences consist of hundreds of saffron-filled water bowls that are offered daily, thousands of light offerings as well as an extensive flower garden. Photo by Chris Majors.

Resident Sangha at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s residences in Washington State and California, USA, offer weekly animal liberation practice and charity for ants, extensive daily offering practices, make tsa-tsas and stupas daily, and engage in nightly Dharma protector practices and sur offering. All of this is done with extensive dedications and prayers for the entire FPMT organization and all beings, as requested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Sangha blessing Lake Omak, Washington, USA, November 2016. Photo by Ven. Holly Ansett.

Last November Rinpoche blessed several lakes located near his Washington State residence, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land (BAPL), using a variety of methods to bring the most benefit. Rinpoche asked the Sangha, in his absence, to keep going out on the lakes regularly, in order to continue to benefit all of the fish and other living beings. They were unable to do this over the winter months, but have picked up these practices again now that the ice and snow has thawed. 

Approximately 70,400 animals were liberated at Rinpoche’s houses in 2016. Not only were the animals saved from untimely death by Sangha, but they were also taken around an incredible amount of holy objects, mantras were recited and blown on them, and they were carefully placed where they could live out the rest of their lives. When Sangha finish these liberations, they make strong prayers for all those who are sick, have recently died, or who have requested prayers. This is one of the most beneficial aspects of this practice as the merit is shared among so many. 

Buddha statue with extensive lights at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land. Photo by Chris Majors.

Resident Sangha make thousands of light and water offerings daily. Gorgeous flowers adorn Rinpoche’s garden. About the benefits of offering to holy objects, Rinpoche has said, “We are not aware of the limitless skies of benefits we achieve from the practice of offering, what we can achieve and enjoy from life to life,” in Extensive Offering Practice to Accumulate the Most Extensive Merit. “Even while you are in samsara, you enjoy good rebirths, wealth, and every happiness. Even just the samsaric perfections are amazing, without adding all those incredible realizations that allow us to offer deep benefit to sentient beings, liberating them from oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause, delusion and karma.” Rinpoche encourages extensive offerings around the world.

Please rejoice in the ongoing beneficial activity of the Sangha at Rinpoche’s residences. This is an incredible offering on behalf of the entire FPMT organization enthusiastically maintained by the resident Sangha. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund enables Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others to flourish. All the offerings from the fund are used toward the creation of holy objects and extensive offerings around the world; sponsoring young tulkus, high lamas and Sangha in India, Nepal, Tibet and the West; supporting FPMT centers, projects and services; sponsoring Dharma retreats and events; funding animal liberations and blessings, and much more.  

Approximately 80 destitute people are offered meals daily through Lamp of the Path soup kitchen.

Lamp of the Path NGO, a project of FPMT Mongolia, has been offering free meals and a regular free health clinic to the poor and homeless living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for many years.

No repairs have been made the community center since 2003 and the facility is in major need of repair.

In 2016, 21,000 meals were offered to the underprivileged  living in the area. Many are single mothers, the elderly, and children with little or no housing and no access to water or sewage. Woman-headed households served at the soup kitchen are a group significantly disadvantaged both financially and by reason of social and psychological stresses. 

The cost of food for one week averages US$415. Last year, during the spring and summer months, a successful vegetable garden was set up and this provided nutritious produce for the daily meals. Two Mongolian women are employed as kitchen staff. 

In 2017, much needed repairs will be made to the community center.

The community center had not been updated or repaired since 2003 and at the end of 2016 some repairs were completed. Major and much needed renovation is planned for 2017. For example: The roof has deteriorated over the years causing major leaks and dripping; the building walls are so thin that the heat loss becomes a real issue through the winter season; and the ceiling and inner walls are extremely deteriorated due to leaks and damage.

The annual budget for 2017, including the cost to complete these urgent repairs, is US$51,500.

Due to the kindness of a generous benefactor, the Social Services Fund has been able to offer a US$30,000 grant toward the 2017 operating expenses. This is the  fifth consecutive year that we have offered significant support to the the Lamp of the Path NGO in Mongolia, allowing the project to continue.

If you would like to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure grants such as this can continue, you can read more about the charitable projects this fund supports or donate any amount to the fund itself. 

The most precious Jowo Buddha statue in Tibet is offered gold and robes every month through the Puja Fund

Every month the Puja Fund sponsors pujas and offerings dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; the removal of obstacles to all FPMT Dharma activities; FPMT students; benefactors of every FPMT center, service, and project, as well as their families; all beings who have passed away; and benefactors of the FPMT Puja Fund.

On the eighth day of every month of the Tibetan calendar, a Medicine Buddha puja is sponsored at Sera Je Monastery and offered by 2,000 monks. A small money offering, bread, and tea are given to every participating monk and the cost of light and torma offerings for the puja are sponsored.

On the twenty-ninth day of every month, an important day to offer protector pujas, forty of the most senior monks of Sera Je Monastery, who specialize in the practice of Most Secret Hayagriva, are sponsored to perform the Extensive Most Secret Hayagriva puja (Hayagriva Tsog Kong). This is an all-day puja with an elaborate torma offering, extensive prayers, and meditation. A money offering, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are given to each participating monk; and the Puja Fund also offers the cost of extensive torma offerings for the puja.

Robes are offered every month to the Buddha statue in Mahabodhi temple, Bodhgaya, India. Photo by Andy Melnic.

 A new set of robes is offered every month to the precious Buddha statue inside the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, India. Thanks to Root Institute for kindly organizing this every month. 

Every month on the full moon the Puja Fund sponsors the offering of gold and robes to the most holy Jowo Buddha statue in Tibet.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has taught extensively on the benefits of offering to statues of Buddha. “If someone offers a small flower or rice to a Buddha statue, a stupa, or scripture then the benefit extends from then up to enlightenment. Amazing, amazing,” Rinpoche has said. “It is said in the sutra Piled Flowers, on top of that benefit, you achieve ultimate happiness, liberation from the causes of delusion and karma, and on top of that full enlightenment, all the realizations and omniscient mind.”

Please rejoice in these monthly pujas and offerings to Sangha and holy objects sponsored by the Puja Fund. These pujas and practices are a direct and important investment in FPMT’s current and future successes.

The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for pujas and offerings dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to the success of all the FPMT centers, projects, services, students, benefactors, and those serving the organization in any way.

Learn more about the Puja Fund and FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity.